MP Opens Stadium Seating

Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington cuts the ribbon to officially declare Tom Alford Oval’s new steel seats open, assisted by team captains Kate Mashford and Ashley Darrenkamp

July 23, 2018

Kingaroy’s football fields now feature “stadium seating”, thanks to an $18,500 grant from the Gambling Community Benefit Fund.

On Saturday, Opposition Leader and Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington officially opened the new steel stands, cutting the ribbon during the half-time break in a Women’s Division match between Wests and Gunners.

Kingaroy Soccer Club president Gary Tessmann said he wanted to express the club’s thanks for the many grants it had received over the years.

He told southburnett.com.au the Tom Alford Oval football complex people enjoyed today was a far cry from the “rough farmer’s paddock” it had been in the early 1980s when the site began to be developed.

He said it was a tribute not just to grants but to the club’s many sponsors and the countless hours that volunteers had put in on coaching, refereeing, groundskeeping, running the canteen and carrying out the many other tasks all sporting clubs need done.

Mrs Frecklington said she was proud to be asked to cut the ribbon, and fully supported the club’s next aim: building separate women’s changing rooms so Women’s Division players didn’t have to share the current rooms with male players.

She said one of the great things the club did was to encourage people to be fit, healthy and active.

Mrs Frecklington also paid tribute to the club’s elder statesman, Mick North, for lodging the grant application.

“Those applications are extraordinarily hard to get up,” Mrs Frecklington said, before cutting the ribbon with the assistance of Gunners’ and Wests’ captains.

“The more facilities we can have means we can have bigger game days as well, and you can invite other clubs.”

Mick said there was now seating for about 300 people at the soccer grounds.

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Football fans had plenty to occupy themselves with during the winter school break, including the FIFA World Cup on TV and two Toowoomba Football League home games between South Burnett United and Willowburn’s White and Red sides

The local competition resumed on the weekend after a two-week pause for the winter school holidays, but this year most fans would have barely noticed.

During the holiday break many dyed-in-the-wool football followers spent their nights glued to screens (TVs, tablets or telephones) watching this year’s FIFA World Cup unfold in Russia.

While Australia’s Socceroos were unceremoniously knocked out of the 2018 contest at the Group stage many locals hung on right to the thrilling conclusion, which saw France convincingly beat Croatia 4-2.

Local fans who wanted to see high-powered football action up close weren’t forgotten either, thanks to the Toowoomba Football League.

After months of away games, South Burnett United hosted two at-home games at Tom Alford Oval during the break, playing Willowburn White on Saturday, July 8, and Willowburn Red the following week.

The first match was a disappointment for United fans, with the local side suffering their only defeat so far this season.

Table leaders Willowburn White took the match 3-nil in a blisteringly fast-paced game where United – who were coming back from a two week break – missed a few chances.

But the following week, playing Willowburn Red, United turned the tables in an equally frenetic match where their teamwork and relentless attacks saw them notch up a 4-nil victory.

The result of the two games has kept United in second place on the league table with 29 points – four ahead of third-runners Willowburn Red and three behind leaders Willowburn White.

With just four fixture games remaining, United are now hoping to take out this year’s Minor Premiership.

After winning the President’s Cup on June 10 this would be a great victory for the team, which only entered the TFL competition this year.

Local fans will be able to savour more TFL thrills again this Saturday when United take on Rockville Rovers in a deferred round 15 match at Tom Alford Oval.

The match will be preceded by two earlier, local games between Gunners and Barambah which have both been moved back two hours from their normal starting times to allow the TFL game to be played under lights at 6:00pm.

United will be going into this match as favourites with more than double Rockville’s 11 season points under the belt.